Tribute Video for Michael's (approximate) birthday, on March 17.
Meet Gorilla Michael, foster brother of well-known Koko, celebrated his birthdays on March 27th. He was born in 1973 (2 years younger than Koko) and lived to be 27 (in 2000). Michael would have been 47 on March 27, 2022 — the same age as the male gorilla, Toni, currently living under very stressful conditions at the Kyiv Zoo. Michael was an incredible gorilla, who, like Koko, learned hundreds of signs in American Sign Language, and loved to paint. He also loved to recount stories, such as the one in the above video, about losing his parents to poachers in Africa, as an infant. All gorillas have these kinds of capabilities, and yet they also each have their own individual responsibilities, and the relationships we (humans) develop with them, last forever!
